1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display technique capable of reproducing and displaying a plurality of moving images on the same screen simultaneously.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prices continue to fall for a moving-image shooting apparatuses such as digital video camcorders using magnetic tape as the recording medium, and such apparatuses have come into widespread use in the home. Inexpensive moving-image shooting apparatuses that use a hard-disk drive, optical disk or large-capacity semiconductor memory instead of magnetic tape as the recording medium have also appeared on the market, and digital still cameras and mobile telephones are also generally equipped with a moving image shooting function. Thus, today's technology enables people to shoot moving image data with ease.
In particular, with regard to a moving image shooting apparatus having a recording medium of a hard-disk drive, optical disk or semiconductor memory type, there are a wide variety of styles in which these recording media and main body of the apparatus are connected to a personal computer or the like and moving image data recorded on the medium is enjoyed. With regard to such enjoyment of moving image data using a personal computer, use is often made of applications for displaying a plurality of items of moving image data in the form of an array on a display screen.
Further, systems in which a moving image shooting apparatus of the above-described kind is connectable to a TV receiver or TV-program recording apparatus have appeared on the market. In these apparatuses, use is made of a technique in which a plurality of items of moving image data are displayed in the form of an array on a display screen. In particular, the image display portion of TV receivers is in the process of becoming thinner, larger in area and lower in cost, and TV receivers having large-size screens (referred to as “large-screen TVs” below) of even greater size are expected to come into widespread use in the future. Thus it is predicted that display configurations in which a plurality of moving images are reproduced simultaneously on a single display screen will become more commonplace in the future.
Consider a situation where a plurality of items of moving image data are displayed in the form of an array on a display screen. One conceivable method is to array and display first-frame images (still images) of moving image data. In this case, the content of the frame image being displayed does not necessarily symbolize the content of the moving image data. Accordingly, in a case where a user wishes to retrieve desired moving image data from the display where images are arrayed (hereinafter referred to as a list display), the inevitable result is a decline in retrievability.
On the other hand, a method of reproducing and displaying all moving images displayed in an array form also is conceivable. However, if a plurality of moving images are arrayed on one screen and the moving image data is reproduced simultaneously, viewability of the moving images by the user declines and it becomes difficult for the user to distinguish each item of moving image data.
In order to overcome these difficulties, the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-326881 displays a plurality of icons and reproduces only the moving image of an icon selected by the user employing a cursor or the like, thereby facilitating ease of viewing by the user and identifiability of each item of moving image data.
Further, the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-265812 lays out and display icons of moving image data in virtual three-dimensional space. The arrangement is such that the user designates coordinates in this three-dimensional space and reproduces all of the moving image data situated at the spatial coordinates near the input coordinates designated. Further, the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-32219 describes an arrangement in which some images are overlapped to present a list display in order that the list display may be presented more efficiently.
However, in the case of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-326881, only moving image data designated by the user can be reproduced and operation by the user is required in order to confirm the content of moving image data not reproduced.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-265812 is such that all moving image data placed in the vicinity of the position designated by the user is reproduced. Although all moving image data is not reproduced, a plurality of items of moving image data near the position designated by the user are reproduced simultaneously. Consequently, depending upon the structure of the display apparatus, there is a marked decline in viewing ease of the moving images by the user and in the identifiability of each item of moving image data. Furthermore, although Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-32219 controls the position of still image data based upon the relationship between the focusing position of the still image data and position at which display images overlap, it does not take into consideration the position at which moving image data is reproduced.
In order to solve these problems, there is demand for a method of laying out a plurality of items of moving image data and a method of reproducing image data that take into consideration the size of the display screen.